Things I've been learning, things I need to do

Ok, things I've learned lately that I need to practice until they become 2nd nature (and then 1st) :

Midtones -- run them alongside the dark shadows. Jones seems not to do this.

Greys - colorful greys. And neutrals. All the colors shouldn't be fighting each other for attention.

Start using reference dumbass. If you want to be able to work without it later, you still need to work from the actual human body to develop that essential understanding of how it really looks, not textbook theory.


Also, some conclusions I've arrived at - that I've always sort of known really :

Stop thinking of myself as a student and doing exercises - it doesn't happen until you know you're an artist and just start kicking ass.

It' a sort of alchemy between your personality, your self esteem, and your knowledge/skills. When I used to do really good drawings I always felt like I was showing off, I KNEW I was good. I never felt like I was struggling. But also I had developed the skills needed through years of drawing experience. So it's not empty narcissism, it's just an acknowledgement of your abilities.

Recently it occurred to me that the time when I stopped drawing coincided with when I got my 1st computer and got online, and I can clearly still remember how addicting it was, and asking myself how I ever got along before the internet. So it's quite possible that drawing used to be something I did to relieve boredom, and then the internet took over that position so I didn't need to draw anymore.

Also, about Jones again - it' clear a lot of his inspiration comes from cartoonists or illustrators with a very loose fun style, like maybe George Herriman (Krazy Kat) or somebody similar. Who's the magazine illustrator who drew the swaybacked fat horses and the little caveman in such a delightful cartoony style, that Frazetta borrowed so heavily from in his funny animal stuff?